As most people readily recognize, with the increased popularity of the Internet, network shopping services, e.g., Web sites that enable users to make purchases online, have become increasingly accepted and popular. The advantages of purchasing from/through network shopping services are numerous. For example, network shopping services offer a wide selection of products to choose from, price comparisons for the cost conscious, and the convenience of shopping for an item from anywhere a consumer may have access to a shopping service, rather than making a trip to a particular store. However, there may be inconveniences associated with purchasing goods and services (i.e., “items”) from network shopping services. For example, returning an item for an exchange or refund may be perceived as an inconvenience to the consumer, particularly if the item purchased must be repackaged and shipped to be returned. Vendors, like consumers, may also perceive returns as an inconvenience. Processing a return may represent an unreimbursed cost to a vendor. At a minimum, there is a processing and restocking cost associated with each return. Moreover, in some instances, a returned item is no longer saleable, or if saleable, only at a reduced price, which represents an additional loss to a vendor.
Returns are made for a variety of circumstances and/or conditions. These circumstances and conditions include consumer “errors,” such as the purchase of the wrong item, size, or format, incompatibility with current systems, and the like. For example, if a consumer who prefers and consistently purchases wide-screen editions of movies inadvertently purchases a full-screen edition of a movie (especially when a wide-screen edition of the movie is available), the likelihood of its return is greatly increased, as well as the perceived inconvenience to the consumer. Conversely, returns also arise from vendor-related issues, such as sending the wrong or a defective item. Of course, returns also occur even when neither the consumer nor the vendor made an error, such as when the consumer is dissatisfied with the item, experiences buyer's remorse, a change of heart or mind, or finds the same product for less from another vendor.
While both consumers and vendors currently recognize and accept the perceived inconveniences that returned items represent, both would be greatly benefited if the frequency with which returns occur could be reduced. Similarly, a consumer's purchase experience would be improved by identifying items that are most compatible and consistent for the consumer. Thus, one way to reduce the frequency of returns and enhance a consumer's purchase experience is to detect circumstances in which a return is likely to occur while the consumer is shopping and, if such circumstances are detected, to advise the consumer of the circumstance and validate that the purchase is, indeed, what the consumer desires.